The giant ape went extinct 100,000 years ago, due to its inability to adapt

[Judi Lynn]

The giant ape went extinct 100,000 years ago, due to its inability to adapt

By heritagedaily 
Posted on January 4, 2016

Scientists from the Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment in Tübingen and from the Senckenberg Research Institute in Frankfurt examined the demise of the giant ape Gigantopithecus.

In their study, published recently in the scientific journal “Quaternary International,” they reach the conclusion that the presumably largest apes in geological history died due to their insufficient adaptability. Analyses of fossil tooth enamel show that the primates were restricted to forested habitats.

It is well documented that the giant ape Gigantopithecus was huge – but beyond this fact, there are many uncertainties regarding the extinct ancestor of the orangutan. Size indications vary from 1.8 to 3 meters, and weight estimates between 200 and 500 kilograms. And there are various theories regarding its diet as well: Some scientists assume a strictly vegetarian lifestyle, while others consider the ape a meat eater, and a few believe that its diet was exclusively limited to bamboo. “Unfortunately, there are very few fossil finds of Gigantopithecus – only a few large teeth and bones from the lower mandible are known,” explains Prof. Dr. Hervé Bocherens of the Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment (HEP) at the University of Tübingen, and he continues, “But now, we were able to shed a little light on the obscure history of this primate.”

Together with his colleagues from the Senckenberg Research Institute, Prof. Dr. Friedmann Schrenk and PD Dr. Ottmar Kullmer, as well as other international scientists, the biogeologist from Tübingen examined the fossil giant ape’s tooth enamel in order to make inferences on its diet and to define potential factors for its extinction. “Our results indicate that the large primates only lived in the forest and obtained their food from this habitat,” explains Bocherens, and he adds, “Gigantopithecus was an exclusive vegetarian, but it did not specialize on bamboo.”

More:
http://www.heritagedaily.com/2016/01/the-giant-ape-went-extinct-100000-years-ago-due-to-its-inability-to-adapt/109141

[guillaumeb]

1. Very large, and with orange hair you say?

Does this mean that Donald Trump is descended from Gigantopithecus . He does have an outsized ego, and orange hair.

[Warpy]

2. He's dropped the orange hair dye lately

since he's going for gravitas with that now silver monstrosity on his head while he continues to prove to us he's a blowhard, a bully, not very smart, and an astonishingly bad businessman.

[hunter]

3. This Northern European Great Ape is not extinct.

I'm enjoying the red genes.